Julia Harrington, Headmistress of NACE member Queen Anne’s School and founder of BrainCanDo, shares details of a new Neuroscience for Teachers course designed to help bridge the gap between neuroscience and educational practice.
As both a parent and a teacher in secondary education, the inner workings of the adolescent brain have often seemed something of a mystery. From the turbulent highs and lows to the sometimes impulsive, rash, creative and utterly inexplicable behaviours expressed, it can be challenging for us to understand why teenagers act the way they do and how best to reach them.
At
BrainCanDo we felt that teachers of this exuberant age-group could be further empowered to engage, inspire and motivate their students if they were given the time and opportunity to learn some of the new insights that have emerged through the fields of psychology and neuroscience over recent years.
We used to think that the brain stopped developing at age 11 but we now know that this simply is not the case. The brain undergoes one of the greatest developmental periods throughout adolescence and this reorganisation continues until early adulthood. We felt that teachers with a responsibility for classroom teaching and pastoral care could benefit hugely from accessing this new knowledge that does not form a part of conventional teacher training.
This is why BrainCanDo has teamed up with neuroscientist Professor Patricia Riddell to develop a
Neuroscience for Teachers course. This course involves six one-day workshops in which teachers are invited to come together to share their experiences as practitioners and gain new insights into the neuroscience of motivation through to mental health and wellbeing.
I set up BrainCanDo around six years ago with the aim of bringing closer connection between the rapidly advancing fields of psychology and neuroscience and the day-to-day lives of teachers in the classroom. Over the past six years BrainCanDo has worked closely with staff and pupils at Queen Anne’s School, Caversham, and a number of other schools to provide training and resources to enhance teaching, learning and wellbeing. Today BrainCanDo is a dynamic hub of research and collaborative excellence, leading the way in harnessing the power of psychology and neuroscience to enrich education. We continue to work collaboratively with universities, schools, school leaders, teachers and pupils to bring neuroscientific evidence-based research in to educational practice.
We are excited to have the opportunity to work closely with neuroscientists and teaching practitioners to bridge the gap and learn from one another as we seek new ways in which to further engage and inspire our teenage learners.
This pilot programme will commence in September 2020, with the six workshops spread across the academic year. BrainCanDo has secured funding to cover the costs of workshop delivery, assessments and associated materials; participants need only cover the costs of travel.
NACE members who participate in the course will be invited to share their experiences, reflections and evolving thinking and practice with our network throughout the year. Contact communications@nace.co.uk for details.
Plus: free Summer Journal to support wellbeing during lockdown
BrainCanDo has developed a
free Summer Journal to help students, staff and their families stay emotionally, mentally and physically well whilst working at home. The Summer Journal encourages users to consider ways to regulate and process how they feel and includes suggested activities to promote physical and mental health. It is divided into five sections with a week of activities for each: sleep and relaxation; goal setting and resilience building; building a healthy lifestyle; fostering creativity; spreading kindness.
Download and share the journal.
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